Catheter guidewires are used to facilitate introduction of a catheter into a patient. In a typical catheter installation, an insertion site is located, and an incision is made by the inserting physician at the insertion site. A syringe is inserted into the patient through the incision to locate the blood vessel, such as a vein, to be catheterized. A flexible metal guidewire is typically inserted through the syringe and into the blood vessel to further enable the inserting physician to insert the catheter into the patient. The guidewire typically has a “J-shaped” distal end, so as not to tear into the patient's blood vessel during insertion. The guidewire is quite flexible so that it can bend with the contours of the blood vessel, but the flexibility of the guidewire, along with the “J-shape”, can make it difficult for the physician to insert the distal end of the guidewire into the syringe. Guidewire straighteners are used to straighten out the “J-shape” and to assist the physician in inserting the distal tip of the guidewire into the syringe for advancement into the blood vessel.
A guidewire is typically stored in a coiled plastic tube, both for ease of physician use and for sterility. However, during shipping, the guidewire can work its way out of the tube, making the guidewire more difficult to handle and potentially compromising the sterility of the guidewire.
A known guidewire straightener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,905. This guidewire straightener utilizes a cantilevered extension at the proximal end of the straightener to grasp a guidewire and retain the guidewire in its tube. It is believed by the inventors that the prior art design does not provide sufficient gripping between the straightener and the guidewire. It is also believed by the inventors that the prior art design may be prone to breakage from fatigue.
It would be beneficial to provide a guidewire straightener that provides increased gripping between the straightener and the guidewire so that the guidewire does not work its way out of the tube, as well as a guidewire straightener that is less prone to breakage from fatigue.